Power Tool: Orchestration vs. Discretion

Dictionary.com defines “Discretion” as:

the power or right to decide or act according to one’s own judgment; freedom of judgment or choice.

Dictionairy.com defines orchestration as:

to arrange or manipulate, especially by means of clever or thorough planning or manoeuvring.

Discretion or Freedom of Choice is something that everyone desires, and in fact freedom is a human right. Lack of freedom or the restriction of our freedom is considered to be an injustice. The struggle for freedom has been the cause of war and struggle. Freedom for mankind, peoples of all ethnicity and social standing is a standard that most people would agree is a vital for our world to live in peace and harmony.

Discretion is defined as

the power or right to decide or act according to one’s own judgment

this idea is for most, an exciting and wonderful ideal. In our personal day to day walk in life the idea of freedom is something that we all hope for. The idea of retiring and having the health and finances to live the way we choose according to our discretion feels and sounds like freedom. To a student, summer or Christmas vacation feels like freedom and in fact it does provide a measure of that, freedom to get out of bed at their discretion and freedom from homework. Vacation means choosing our activities at our discretion. Many people start their own business with the idea that they want the flexibility and the discretion to choose their own hours.

However, when does “freedom” or “discretion” become counterproductive?

Can Freedom in fact put us into situations where we are unable to move forward resulting in restrictions or limited freedom? Does a society, culture, city or in fact our own lives function well when we live according to our discretion? If a person was to base their daily activities and decide on what to do or not to do on how they feel, perhaps what feels best, what others decide or which way the wind is blowing- how does that person function in a world that functions best with order?

Case Studies

1. Rick is a single dad with two kids and pretty good job and a healthy social life. Rick owns his own home but finds his current house too big and would like to downsize. Rick works hard at being a good father and enjoys spending time with his children. Lately, Rick has been feeling anxious and finds life a little overwhelming. He has much to do to prepare his home to go up for sale but being a single father and having so much to do is proving to be a little daunting. In discussing this with a friend Rick discovers that he has no real plan on how to tackle his chores. The work on his house, his social time and his time with his children, and is wearing him down.

He works on a plan and orchestrates his life so that he knows what he is going to do days before and begins to get a lot done. He is now happy and anxiety has left him. His days are no longer driven by his discretion and it feels good. In fact- it feels like freedom.

2. Picture a busy city with heavy traffic, horns are honking, people are yelling, tempers are flaring and accidents are everywhere. What has happened? This is a city without restraints or planning on how traffic moves. It has no traffic lights and no signs. Each driver is able to choose their speed, direction and make decisions purely at their own discretion or choice, they have complete freedom to do whatever they wish. But is this really freedom? Does driving according to one’s discretion really provide the drivers with a freedom that is beneficial? If we add traffic lights, street signs and laws, we have order. The traffic now runs smoothly.

3. Or, picture two soccer teams made up of 8 year olds. They show up to play but there is no referee, he has not yet arrived. And because he has not yet arrived the lines have not been laid down on the field that provide boundaries. It is getting late so one of the parents decides that he will volunteer to referee the game, but he has no whistle and only knows some of the rules. The game begins and it is not long before things are getting out of hand. Kids are kicking each other, there is lots of yelling going on and before long many of them are crying and parents are yelling at the referee and at each other. Thankfully the referee shows up and gets things sorted out. He has the lines drawn and gets the game underway. Order is restored and the kids are “free” to have a great game- with rules in place Michael Gerber in his NY times best seller “The e-myth revisited” states “Orchestration is the elimination of discretion, or choice, at the operating level of your business. Without orchestration, nothing could be planned, and nothing anticipated”. Although this is a business book it is safe to say that the same principle applies to our lives. Without orchestration, or thorough planning, nothing can be anticipated. If goals and outcomes hope to be achieved, the orchestration of our anticipated or desired end result needs to be planned, this supports us in our pursuit of what we desire. On the other hand, discretion or lack of orchestration would result in us reaching our goals mostly by accident. The point is to make our results more predictable, rather than lucking into success.

How is it that a McDonald’s restaurant can be run on a successful and profitable basis by teenagers? Orchestration – everything is planned and structured so that outcomes are predictable.